Midwinter Break

 We decided to start our Midwinter break fun on the Sunday after state.  Bad call.  We needed a recovery day.  But originally I was going to try to go to FL for the last few days of the break, so yeah. 

We unpacked and repacked and headed to Birch Bay after church and meetings. 

We ended up having a nice time (after I got some good sleep including naps.) 

Lots of swimming for the kids with Maren & Cara and co.  (I got in the hot tub and my skin wasn't very happy with me--but some benadryl helped.)

We had a family dinner and a bit of a birthday celebration for me (belated) and Emma. I played some fun Code Names with Grammy, Emma & kids.  The others played Red Flags. 

On Tuesday we headed up to Canada.  We shopped and ate at Granville Island.  For dinner we met up with one of my favorite former co-workers Matt Alford & family.

Wednesday we headed back home.  We unpacked again and caught up on life & sleep.  (I had a cold at this point...so I slept as much as I could.). We spent a couple of days chilling, shopping, doing labs for Dr. Cooper, school prep, etc.  Then on Sunday we drove to Corvallis OR to watch the Stanford Oregon State wrestling match.  It was my first time watching college wrestling (we went to a Highline match long ago--but I spent the whole time chasing kids). It was very interesting.  We took Hunter so he could chat with the coach about walking on.  It was a fun and hilarious road trip.  

Then, time to get back to the business of real life on Monday! 

This wasn't the final score, but Stanford got destroyed.  They only won one match. 

We ate lunch at Elmer's a fun diner in Corvallis. 

The Mat Classic State Tournament

 This year STATE was SO MUCH better than last year.  Everyone made weight.  Everyone had their gear (actually Hunter forgot his singlet at the hotel on day 2, but discovered it in plenty of time for weigh ins).  

Libby crushed her first opponent in under a minute.  Then, in her second match, she was up 7-3 and ended up getting tossed to her back.  She got back out but ended up losing 9-11.  It was heartbreaking.  Then in her 3rd match she lost again.  It was a hard way to end the season.  The first girl she lost to took 2nd overall.  The girl she beat to take first at regionals ended up placing 7th.  So Libby should easily have placed higher than 6th.  But, luck of the draw in the bracket.  After the tournament I checked the rankings and Libby is still actually ranked 4th.  So--yeah.  We've spent a lot of time thinking and rethinking about choices made in that close match she lost.  Libby had that girl on her back and just couldn't quite finish it.  

Needless to say Libby is feeling motivated to do some off season wrestling this year.  I'm glad.  I am excited to see all 3 kids doing Rhinos and planning to do some freestyle tournaments.  That feeling of watching your kids win is so amazing.  And when they lose, it can be so crushing!  What a rollercoaster! 

Day two of the tournament was long, but we ended up with 3 placers.  2 freshman girls and Hunter, the senior that we have loved watching over the years.  All my work with Rhinos back in the day was worth it for Hunter! 

Our friend Matt Rapelje got some awesome pics down on the floor. 

Libby's first match

Her 2nd match--YES! She had this girl! 

See--almost pinned!  

Dad in her corner with Clark

I love seeing her strength--even though in the end she lost this one--she was dominating! 

Hunter in his finals match

Number 1!!

Favorite Fans! 

While we were in the massive line to get in, Libby wore Clark's hat so her hair didn't soak up any rain and make her miss weight! It was cold and awful! 

Ready to head to Tacoma

The boys were Academic State Champs as well! 

Medalists

Hunter's celebration was so epic!  It got tweeted out immediately! 

Our awesome cheering section.  We were so loud, and had the best time.  Love our SW wrestling family.

Then one of the grandparents took the entire team to the Outback Steakhouse for an amazing team dinner.  It was so fun and exhausting!  I am so glad/sad the season is over. 

The Week Before State

Between regionals and state, we had 4.5 days.  Basically.  Over the years I'd seen many many teams who had custom state shirts.  I'm not sure how they turn them around so fast, since you don't know which athletes qualify until Saturday evening and you show up for state on Thursday afternoon.  But this year,  decided I'd use my cricut to make it happen.  (I'm still working on this concept that just because I can...should I?). Anyway, 20 shirts later--we were ready for state!  The kids & coaches were super thankful.  I made Maren & Cara shirts too, as well as Joann, the athletic director.  Each kid's just said State Team and their name on the back.  The adults got the full list of competitors (more than SW has ever had).  They looked awesome.  

In the midst of the shirt making chaos (big thanks to Sarah, Ben & some of my students for weeding out a bunch of the logos and names) I found out that to get a coach pass this year I'd have to become an official volunteer coach.  So I also had to watch a few hours of video training and take the quizzes.  Luckily I already have my CPR and first aid.  It was nice to have the coach pass, so I could drive athletes and go in the pass door (but this year it wasn't faster, as they were searching athletes too...what a mess.) 

But anyway, we did manage to have a bit of a Valentine's meal (I ate with just Ben and his friend Story, the others ate later, haha.). During the 2 weeks leading up to V-day I had been putting compliment hearts on the kids doors, a fun tradition I heard about from Gretchen Rubin.  So you know, it made up for the actual day being chaotic with not a lot of actual togetherness. 

Derek sent me awesome flowers for Valentine's Day that arrived at school after I'd already left.  So I had to drive back and get them.  But it was worth it. 

What a crazy week! But we were ready to compete.  Libby had 3 pairs of shoes (one carried by a friend just in case.). 

 

Girls Districts & Regionals 2023

 It's been an amazing couple of weekends for the Shorewood Stormray girls.

I was so proud of how they wrestled both weekends.

At Districts all the girls qualified for regionals!

Libby took 2nd, losing in the 1/2 match (I think) because she thought the girls was a state placer last year (not just a state participant) so she had it in her head that she wouldn't win.

The girls took 3rd overall. 

Clark wrote this great Shoreline Area News article. 

Then at Regionals, the girls continued to rock it! 

They took 1st overall. 

Libby's 1/2 match this time was against the girl she beat last week in the semi-final match.  This week Libby dominated and pinned her!  Going into the day she was still ranked 3rd in the state and Libby was ranked 9th.  But Libby showed those doing the rankings that last weekend wasn't a fluke!

They interviewed Libby, Clark and 2 of her teammates for the Everett Herald.

I took my good camera and got some good shots.

They give each other "angel wings" before matches.  Ouch! 

The boys also had a good couple of weekends, with this group of 4 heading to the Tacoma Dome along with the 7 girls.